GasBuddy News Article

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Not good news for motorists in the Great Lakes. BP has indicated that a massive multi-year expansion project will not be completed on time.

The sixth largest refinery in the country, according to BP, lies in Whiting, Indiana. The facility has been undergoing a multi-billion dollar expansion since 2008, and was tentatively scheduled to be online in early 2013. However, problems arose. According to Bloomberg, the refinery expansion may not be complete until the third quarter at earliest.

The project is significant in that it will allow the BP refinery to process significantly more Canadian crude oil than it currently does- rising from 80,000 barrels per day to nearly 350,000 barrels per day. Currently, Canadian crude oil...

a little more info from December 14, 2012"A major $4 Billion expansion project at BP Whiting, Indiana refinery is 80% complete, spokesman Scott Dean said Friday. The project is on track to be completed in the second half of 2013, Mr. Dean said.

BP began work on the 337,000 barrel-a-day refinery in 2008 with the aim of increasing its capacity to process heavy Canadian crude. The project involves a new heavy crude unit, a larger coker and gas oil hydrotreater." Downstream Today.

Here's an article from 2012 to help explain what happened: Wed May 23, 2012 6:18pm EDT

(Reuters) - BP said it will spend $400 million to install pollution controls at its giant Whiting, Indiana refinery (next to Chicago), to allow it to process heavy crude oil from Canada, in a deal with EPA.

The consent decree reached with the U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency also requires BP to pay $8 million to resolve prior alleged clean-air violations at its 405,000-barrels-per-day plant, the sixth-largest U.S. refinery.

The deal, announced by the government and confirmed by BP, ends years of opposition that might have left BP unable to use $4 billion worth of new processing units being installed at Whiting Indiana that will allow it to run Canadian tar sands crude as early as 2013. BP has set plans to use Canadian crudes for more than 85 percent of the refinery's daily needs.

To boost profits, U.S. Midwest refiners are looking to retrofit plants to process plentiful supplies of Canadian heavy oil, which is cheaper but also has a higher content of pollutants that cause acid rain, smog and haze.

BP filed a lawsuit against its contractors for faulty fireproof coating on structural steel used in the plant. The start up of one of its fractionators has been delayed which has delayed the start of its new cokers.

Delay was caused by EPA permit hold up. BP wants refinery expansion to go thru because1. BP has invested $4.4 billion dollars in Whiting Indiana Expansion2. BP has over six years of planning and building in this.3. It will have a higher profit margin when it refines cheaper heavy Canadian crude oil.

Delay was caused by EPA permit hold up. BP wants refinery expansion to go thru because1. BP has invested $4.4 billion dollars in Whiting Indiana Expansion2. BP has over six years of planning and building in this.3. It will have a higher profit margin when it refiners cheaper heavy Canadian crude oil.